Miller "disappointed" with UFC 111 win, wouldn't have been shocked if Bocek given nod

While Saturday night’s UFC 111 event was marked by several one-sided beatdowns on the evening’s main card, the pay-per-view broadcast opened up with a razor-thin decision between Jim Miller (17-2 MMA, 6-1 UFC) and Mark Bocek (8-3 MMA, 4-3 UFC).

And while Miller, a New Jersey native, ultimately earned the nod in front of a friendly crowd, he was hardly joyous at the call.

In fact, Miller said at the evening’s post-event press conference that he wouldn’t have been surprised if Bocek had been awarded the win.

“I think I won, but it wouldn’t have shocked me if I heard his name,” Miller said. “I don’t like going to the judges.”

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) actually scored the fight a draw. The first round was clearly Miller’s with a deep kimura and enough striking damage to open a cut on Bocek’s forehead. Meanwhile, Bocek grabbed the second frame with dominant positioning in the latter stages of the round, including an extended period on Miller’s back while working for a rear-naked choke.

It came down to a dead-even third frame, and even UFC president Dana White said the scoring was tough.

“I think I gave the first round to him, I gave the second round to Bocek, and I had it a draw going into the third round,” White said. “There wasn’t much done either way in the third round. It could have gone either way.

“It was a tough fight to score.”

Miller agreed, and though he said he wouldn’t have been surprised to have been handed a loss, he didn’t feel the decision was any sort of robbery.

“He’s a real tough kid, and it was a close fight,” Miller said. “I mean, if you look at both of our faces, I definitely beat him up a little bit more than he beat me up. I threw him a bunch more submissions. He had my back, but he never was choking me, so it was a close fight.”

Miller now has four-straight wins in the lightweight division, and he’s 6-1 overall in the octagon. Records like that will get your name mentioned along with title shot opportunities, but Miller isn’t concerned about that. He simply wants to get finishes every time he walks in the cage.

“I was more just disappointed,” Miller said. “I wanted the finish. I wanted to sub him out.”